Floods leave hundrends homeless

Written By:Carol Karimi/Erastus Maleve,    Posted: Fri, Dec 09, 2011

Displaced persons are blaming the government for failing to take long term measures (File photo) Hundreds of families in Tana Delta District have been rendered homeless after the Tana River broke its banks washing away homes in the downstream. According to the Coast Region, Kenya Red Cross manager, Jerald Dhome More than 14 villages have been washed away or submerged leaving families stranded with lack of basic commodities like sanitary.  The displaced persons are blaming the government for failing to take long term measures even before the onset of the rains since the havoc has been constant along the river for years. They are now camping in 3 centers within the district where they are receiving relief supplies from the Kenya Red Cross society. Dhome said those affected risk being infected with Cholera and Malaria in the camps because of the sanitation challenge posed to them. They are using raw water from the open. However Kenya Red Cross is responding to the health risks posed by the floods with the team providing safe clean water and providing them with food ratios. The most affected areas are along River Tana. Minister for Special Programs Esther Murungi has promised to send a team in Western and Nyanza provinces to evaluate those hit by the current floods And in Baringo a District Commissioner was forced to retreat when more than 500 families displaced by flooding in lower parts of Lake Baringo stormed Marigat district headquarters. Credible sources revealed to Kenya National Agency (KNA) that Mr. Samuel Moyaywa was attending a District Education Board meeting when the protesters arrived to petition him about the flooding crisis in four locations where an estimated 10,000 families have been displaced for the last two weeks. And still on floods scores of marooned flood victims in Busia and Siaya Counties are yet to receive relief food and medical aid. Saboti MP, Eugene Wamalwa said that more relief should be provided by the government to the victims. He was speaking at Ruambwa camp in Siaya District when he visited 390 households affected by the floods Addressing the victims at the same venue, former Budalangi MP, Raphael Wanjala called upon the state to charter helicopters to reach inaccessible areas so as to reach the marooned residents of the flooded areas. Wanjala also called upon the state to hasten the construction of dykes to alleviate perennial flooding in the lower regions. Some of the affected areas include Kusaga, Mundika B, Mukholoba and Magombe sub locations of Bunyala District. The two leaders were accompanied by Nominated MP Musikari Kombo.